The 2021 US Poker Open at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas added two more champions to their history books as this year's high roller series hits its final stretch. Jared Bleznick won Event #8 $10,000 PLO for $189,000, then Ali Imsirovic took down Event #9 $10,000 NL and faded 99 runners. The victory pushed Imsirovic into the top spot on the US Poker Open leaderboard with three events remaining on the schedule.
Ship it to Bleznick and Imsirovic. They're the latest fortunate souls who stepped into the warm glow of the winner's circle after they both emerged victorious over the last couple days with big wins at the 2021 US Poker Open in Las Vegas, where a cluster of the top high rollers dove into shark-infested waters for a shot at a small mound of cash and glory.
Event #8 $10,000 PLO attracted 63 entrants. The top nine places paid out with most of the cheesecake set aside to the champion. With a final table of six set, Jared Bleznick bagged the chip lead with 2M. He had the big stack at a final table that included Maxx Coleman, Joe Sanders, Ali Imsirovic, Maxx Coleman, Frank Crivello, and Chris Usude.
Dylan Wesimann bubbled the PLO final table for Event #8, but he cashed in seventh place. David Peters, who took down Event #7 the other day, cashed in eighth place. Adam Hendrix was the only other player to cash but miss the final table when he hit the bricks in ninth place.
Ali Imsirovic was picked off in fourth place, followed by Chris Usude in third. That set up a big-time heads-up battle between Maxx Coleman and Jared Bleznick.
Coleman could not pull off a comeback and he settled on a runner-up finish in PLO worth $126K. Bleznick shipped Event #8 for a $189K score, but he also earned 189 points for the USPO leaderboard.
Event #9 $10,000 NL missed the century mark when 99 runners took a shot at a USPO title. Ali Imsirovic bagged the chip lead with a monsterstack worth over 5M. His final table also included Vanessa Kade, Cary Katz, Jake Schindler, Lucky Chewy, Tom Winters, and Erik Seidel.
The top 15 places paid out in Event #9. Notable players who cashed but missed the final table included Mazen Abdallah, Alex Foxen, Jesse Sylvia, Stephen Chidwick, Nick Petrangelo, Jim Collopy, Steven Veneziano, and Matt Ploof.
Schnidler and Winters were the first players to exit the final table. Erik Seidel laddered up to fifth overall. Vanessa Kade was eliminated in fourth place, followed by Cary Katz in third. With two remaining, Andrew 'LuckyChewy' Lichtenberger and Ali Imsirovic slugged it out for the title and cash.
It was not a fortuitous day for Lucky Chewy. He hit the road in second place and he banked $158,400 for a runner-up finish. Not too shabby, eh?
Imsirovic snagged the title and $217,800 in cash. He also added 218 points, which rocketed him to the top of the USPO Leaderboard. Imsirovic cashed four times so far.
With a second-place finish in Event #9, Lichtenberger cashed in his third event for 308 points. That was also good enough to surpass former-leader Joe McKeehen. McKeehen won an event last week and cashed twice, but he slipped to third overall with 302 points. Steve Z was in second place, but he did not gain any points in the previous two events so he's sitting in fourth with 289 points. David Peters moved into fifth overall with 243 points.
2021 US Poker Open Leaderboard
1. Ali Imsirovic 406 - 1 win, 4 cashes ($406,400)
2. Andrew Lichtenberger 308 - 3 cashes ($308,000)
3. Joe McKeehen 302 - 1 win, 2 cashes ($302,200)
4. Steve Zolotow 289 - 3 cashes ($289,000)
5. David Peters 243 - 1 win, 2 cashes ($243,000)
6. Dan Shak 236 - 3 cashes ($235,500)
7. Maxx Coleman 231 - 3 cashes ($230,800)
8. Cary Katz 227 - 3 cashes ($226,900)
9. Alex Foxen 223 - 4 cashes ($223,300)
10. John Riordan 222 - 1 win, 3 cashes ($221,800)
** Thru 9 events
